Red blood cell magnetophoresis as a function of oxygen partial pressure

Abstract

Red blood cell (RBC) magnetophoresis is a function of the concentration of dissolved oxygen (O2) in normal RBCs measured by cell tracking velocimetry (CTV). The hemoglobin (Hb) magnetic susceptibility changes from diamagnetic (when fully oxygenated, oxyHb) to paramagnetic (when fully deoxygenated, deoxyHb) resulting in a small shift in the normal RBC diamagnetic susceptibility from lower to higher than that of water (-9.05 × 10-6). To date, the RBC magnetophoretic motion analyses have been limited to only two quaternary states of the Hb-O2 complexes, fully oxygenated RBCs (i.e. 100 % O2 saturation of Hb inside RBCs) and fully deoxygenated RBCs (0 % O2 saturation of Hb inside RBCs). In this work, the RBC magnetophoretic velocity is measured at small pO2 intervals for the entire physiological range of 0–160 mmHg. The changes in the RBC magnetophoresis as a function of the O2 partial pressure in solution (pO2) agreed with the theoretical predictions based on the RBC-O2 equilibrium curve (OEC, measured by Hemox Analyzer and Blood Oxygen Binding System, BOBS™) and the Adair O2-Hb cooperative binding theory. The results provide a scientific basis for future designs of a “magnetic filter” based on the precise control of the RBC magnetic moment by carefully controlling the pO2 of the RBC suspension.